Elderly man in wheelchair, nursing home worker in hit and run

INDEPENDENCE TWP, Mich. (FOX 2) - An elderly man is in critical condition and a nursing home worker is hurt, both victims of a hit and run.

An 83-year-old man in a wheelchair and the worker were stuck on the side of the road Thursday night in Independence Township.

It happened just as an employee at the senior living facility came to get the man when a car smashed into both of them - then drove off.

Investigators are looking for the driver of a black Chevy Monte Carlo with red writing on the front. There will be passenger side damage and maybe a faulty tail light.

"He didn't even bother to stop, so he could have cared less if he killed that man," said neighbor Marie Robinson.

The hit and run was in front of Robinson's house in Clarkston off Clintonville Road.

"You see a person in a wheelchair, you're going to stop," she said. "I mean any person with a conscience would do that."

Investigators say around 10 p.m. the elderly patient was outside of the Clarkston Specialty Health Care Center and couldn't get his wheelchair out of the road.

"They tried to pull him back as the car came and the car clipped him," said Capt. Christopher Wundrach, Office of the Oakland County Sheriff.

He's in critical condition and the 29-year old woman who helped - was hospitalized, but will be OK.

The facility didn't explain why the man was outside so late. They are saddened by this unfortunate incident and applaud their employee's actions.

"This is a senseless hit and run accident where he should have felt something and he just took off," Wundrach said. "It's the law you have to stop for an accident and when you leave the scene you make it worst not only for the victim but for yourself," Wundrach said.

Marie Robinson says there is a man in a wheelchair always out on the sidewalk waving to cars…she thinks he's the one who was hit.

"He's so friendly got a little smile on his face all the time," Robinson said. "I hope he pulls through, God bless him."

Investigators are looking for tips to find that Black Monte Carlo that will have front end damage. If you know this car - call the office of the Oakland County Sheriff. In Independence Township.